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Dimapur, March 16 (EMN): The Election Commission of India on Tuesday announced the date for bye-elections to two Lok Sabha seats -- Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka – and 14 assembly constituencies across 11 states, including Nagaland.
The commission informed that it had decided to hold the bye-elections to fill the vacant seats on April 17 after taking into consideration various factors like local festivals, electoral rolls, weather conditions, movement of forces, pandemic etc.
According to the notification, the date for issue of gazette notification is March 23; last date of nominations on March 30; scrutiny of nominations on March 31 and last date for withdrawal of candidatures on April 3 before polling on April 17. It added that the votes will be counted on May 2 and date before which election will be completed is May 4.
Bye-elections will be held in three constituencies in Rajasthan, two in Karnataka and one each in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana and Uttarakhand.
The 51-Noksen Assembly Constituency in Nagaland’s Tuensang district has been lying vacant after Minister CM Chang passed away on October 12, 2020. He won the elections from the constituency in the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly on Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) ticket.
The commission notified that the electoral rolls with January 1, 2021 as the qualifying date have been published for the parliamentary and assembly constituencies and that EVMs and VVPATs will be used for the bye-elections.
Model code of conduct
The commission notified that model code of conduct will come into force with immediate effect in the district in which the whole or any part of the parliamentary or assembly constituency going for election is included.
“The model code of conduct shall be applicable to all candidates, political parties and the state government concerned. The model code of conduct shall also be applicable to the Union Government,” it stated, adding that Covid-appropriate guidelines should be strictly followed during the conduct of elections.